The salary of the Registered Municipal Clerk
Rory Moore made this OPRA request to Nutley Township as part of a batch sent to 20 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Registered Municipal Clerk,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Greetings and salutations, my name is Rory Moore. I am the recipient of a award by OPRA Machine for the years 2020 and 2021. I wrote a premise to ascertain salaries for a variety of Municipalities to be published on the internet.I seek the following three questions, ONLY
1) The current salary of the Registered Municipal Clerk or and one acting in a similar position with the responsibilities of the Town Clerk?
2) The years in service of the current position?
3) The educational level by a number, only. HS, Some College, etc.?
4) I do not seek any additional information, No names, or any personal information. I seek the title of Town Clerk. That is all.
Thank You Rory Moore, rmoore2929@gmail 732-991-7384.
Thanks, very much for your cooperation.
If you include a public email, I will forward a finish produce to your attention.
Yours faithfully,
Rory Moore
Mr. Moore,
This correspondence shall serve as the Township of Nutley’s (the
“Township”) response to your request for access to government records
pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, et seq.
(“OPRA”), which was sent on November 16, 2020. Below are the Township’s
responses to each request.
1. “The current salary of the Registered Municipal Clerk or and [sic] one
acting in a similar position with the responsibilities of the Town
Clerk”. Please see the attached responsive records.
2. “The years in service of the current position”. Please see the
attached responsive records.
3. “The educational level by a number, only. HS, Some College, etc.”
Pursuant to OPRA, “the personnel or pension records of any individual
in the possession of a public agency, including but not limited to
records relating to any grievance filed by or against an individual,
shall not be considered a government record and shall not be made
available for public access”. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10. However, an
individual's “name, title, position, salary, payroll record, length of
service, date of separation and the reason therefor, and the amount
and type of any pension received shall be a government record”. Id.
“[D]ata contained in information which disclose conformity with
specific experiential, educational or medical qualifications required
for government employment or for receipt of a public pension, but not
including any detailed medical or psychological information, shall be
a government record”. Id. A search of Township files did not disclose
an “education level by number only” for the position of Registered
Municipal Clerk. Moreover, Custodians are not required to create new
records in response to an OPRA request. See Bent v. Stafford Police
Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). Accordingly, your
request is denied.
4. “I do not seek any additional information, No [sic] names, or any
personal information. I seek the title of Town Clerk. That is all.”
This request does not identify specific government records. When a
request fails to specifically identify the documents sought, then that
request is not “encompassed” by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders
Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.
Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). Accordingly, your request is denied.
To the extent that you have also requested access to the above government
records under the common law, your stated interest in obtaining the
records must be balanced against the Township of Nutley’s interest in
nondisclosure. See Loigman v. Kimmelman, 102 N.J. 98 (1986). The
foregoing response to your request for access to government records
incorporates the aforementioned balancing test. Please note that "a
party's status as a litigant does not enlarge its access to government
records under OPRA”. MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 545-46 (App. Div. 2005). The Township of
Nutley reserves the right to raise any other grounds for denial not raised
in this response. Failure of the Township of Nutley to assert an
exemption or privilege does not act as a waiver of any grounds for denial.
Furthermore, a reviewing Court or the Government Records Council ("GRC")
may deem a denial of access to be authorized on grounds other that those
advanced by a custodian. See Paff v. Twp. of Plainsboro, A-2122-05T2,
2007 WL 957289, at *2 (App. Div., Apr. 2, 2007), affirming, Paff v.
Township of Plainsboro, GRC Complaint No. 2005-29 (March 2006). If your
request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled, you
have a right to challenge the decision by the Township of Nutley to deny
access. At your option, you may either initiate a proceeding in the
Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the GRC by
completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC
by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton,
NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [1][email address], or on its website at
[2]www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC can also answer other questions about the
law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be
directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
Sincerely,
Ceci Tramontana, RMC
Deputy Municipal Clerk
Municipal Clerk’s Office
Township of Nutley, NJ
(973) 284-4951 x2233 Office
(973) 284-5668 Fax
[3]www.nutleynj.org
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=ht...
3. http://www.nutleynj.org/